July 31, 2023

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Newsroom, 31.07.2023, 13:55

TAXES Fresh talks are scheduled today in
the Cabinet on tax-related measures designed to rebalance the state budget.
The Social Democratic PM Marcel Ciolacu is to have meetings with the finance
minister Marcel Boloș, and a report is expected from the national tax agency
with respect to revenue collection. The ruling coalition is considering tax
increases and the elimination of certain tax facilities, as well as the
cancelling of 200,000 public sector positions that are currently vacant and a
reduction of expenditure in ministries. According to the PM, the proposed
measures will be implemented in 3 stages, beginning on September 1, October 1 and
January 1, 2024.

VEHICLES The local segment of the car
scrapping programme Rablaˮ started today, in an effort by the Romanian
authorities to get heavily polluting vehicles out of circulation. Apart from
the funds provided by the Environment Ministry, local authorities contribute
20% of the vouchers granted to citizens who de-register cars older than 15
years. In a first stage in April, town halls enrolled in this programme, and as
of today citizens may apply for the funds available in the programme, no later
than the end of August. The Environment Ministry earmarked some EUR 50 mln for
this programme, and estimates around 100,000 polluting cars will be scrapped.

CONCERT The Bucharest National Opera
orchestra Sunday night performed for the first time at the Musikverein hall in
Vienna, which hosts the traditional New Year’s concert in the Austrian capital
city. The concert was a tribute to the Romanian composer Ciprian
Porumbescu, as the year 2023 was declared the year of Ciprian Porumbescu, to
mark 170 years since the birth and 140 years since the death of the famous
composer. The programme consisted exclusively of works by Ciprian Porumbescu:
New Moon, the first Romanian operetta, the Ballad, the
Romanian Rhapsody. The soloists, choir and orchestra of the
National Opera House in Bucharest were conducted by Daniel Jinga, with special
guests including maestro Gheorghe Zamfir and the soloist Maria Coman.

TRAINING The training ship Mircea has today
returned to the military port of Constanţa, after a 28-day training session in
the Mediterranean. On board were 64 sophomore students with the Mircea cel
Bătrân Naval Academy, as well as 10 exchange students from partner
academies in Bulgaria, Poland, Turkey, Latvia, Italy and Spain. The training
ship had stopovers in the ports of Piraeus in Greece, Taranto in Italy and Izmir
in Turkey, and completed an over 2,200 mile journey.

UKRAINE Ukraine has today confirmed that
Saudi Arabia will host a peace summit aimed, according to Kyiv, at restoring
peace in line with the Ukrainian formula, EFE reports. According to the head
of Ukraine’s presidential office Andriy Yermak, apart from guaranteeing peace
for Ukraine, the 10-point formula will create mechanisms to counter future conflicts. For
Kyiv, the formula includes the withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory.
According to Western diplomats, the choice of Saudi Arabia to host the talks is
designed to facilitate the participation of China, which has good relations
with Moscow and with Riyadh.

SPORTS PM Marcel Ciolacu congratulated the
Romanian athletes and coaches who took part in the European Youth Olympic
Festival hosted this year by Maribor (Slovenia). He said Romania once again
confirmed its rebirth as a sports powerhouse after it finished the competition
with 20 medals, shoulder to shoulder with France, which came 3rd in
the final ranking. Their result reconfirms their hard work, talent and the
pride of proving to the world that we are a country which, in spite of
difficulties, remains able to cultivate the spirit required of great champions,ˮ
Ciolacu said. Romania’s performance at this year’s European Youth Olympic
Festival was the best after the ones in a Bath (1995) and Paris (2003). (AMP)